Research Initiative for Scientific EnhancementThe RISE Intensive-Graduate program targets master's-level students to provide them with the communication and analytical skills, extensive research experience, and planning strategies needed to pursue successful graduate school and research careers in biomedical science fields. The training is expected to culminate in the acceptance of the program participants into PhD programs in the biomedical sciences.
Students selected for the program work on original research thesis projects, either at Cal Poly Pomona or the City of Hope Beckman Research Institute. Students participate in developmental activities that include journal clubs, specialty workshops with a focus on critical thinking and development of research skills, collaborative learning experiences, scientific seminars, research careers seminars, GRE (Graduate Record Examination) workshops and travel to scientific meetings.
Students accepted in the program are awarded a stipend as follows:
Below you will find a detailed table of dates and activities that comprise the RISE Intensive-Graduate program.
| Two Weeks in June | |||||
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Two meetings with RISE Intensive-Graduate Coordinator by each RISE Intensive graduate participant; RISE Intensive graduate participants select a FRM for their RISE Intensive-graduate independent research project. |
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| Time | Mon. | Tues. | Weds. | Thurs. | Week Ten |
| 8 am – 5 pm (lunch from 12 to 1 pm) |
Participants will work in a research intensive laboratory under the supervision of their FRM, and read the literature relevant to their research topic and attend and participate in weekly research laboratory meetings. |
Participant Poster Presentations (to 5:00 pm) |
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| Time | Friday (Weeks One through Nine) |
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| 9 am – 10 pm | Safety Workshops (Weeks 1-4)
Scientific Ethics / Scientific Integrity Workshops (Weeks 5-9) (Leader: TBD) An introduction to the ethical conduct of research as students enter a laboratory on a full-time basis; the workshops will focus on the ethical, legal, and social issues in biomedical research, aligned with NIH requirements for responsible conduct of research. |
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| 10 am –12 pm | GRE Preparation Workshops (Weeks 1-5) The goal of these workshops will be to improve students’ scores on the GRE practice Math and Verbal subtests, thereby increasing the students’ competitiveness for admission to Ph.D. programs. Ph.D. Application Process Workshops (Weeks 6-9)
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| 12 – 1 pm | Lunch | ||||
| 2 – 4 pm | Oral Presentation Workshops (Weeks 1-5) Positive and negative examples of short and long talks will be used to demonstrate the principles to be followed for a lucid, well organized presentation. The students will be taught the basic guidelines for preparing and organizing their own presentations, with an emphasis on how to use and prepare effective Powerpoint slides, techniques for positively interacting with the audience, learning how to speak clearly, and to be an active listener. Draft presentations will be presented to the group which will then provide suggestions on how to improve the talks. The workshops will culminate with 10 minute student presentations, with the other participants asking appropriate questions. Visits from Graduate Program Coordinators from Other Campuses (weeks 6-9) |
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| 4 – 6 pm | Journal Club Meetings (Weeks 1, 4, 7) Students will receive guidance to help them learn how to read journal articles and critique them; they will complete assigned readings prior to each journal club meeting, and will submit questions before the presentation of a given article; they will be required to ask questions during presentations |
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Minority Speaker Research Seminar (Weeks 2,5,8) Students will complete assigned readings on the speaker’s research prior to the seminar; they will submit questions before each seminar and will talk with the seminar speaker before, during, and/or after the seminar |
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Grant-Writing Workshop (Weeks 3,6,9) Students will receive guidance in how to write a grant by learning how grant-writing differs from other types of written documents, how to follow the grant guidelines for major funding agencies (e.g., NIH, NSF), how to read grant proposals, interpret reviewer’s comments, review other people’s grants, and participate in a grant scoring exercise.(Note: The Grant-Writing Workshops during the academic year will then focus on helping the students organize and write their own grants). |
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| Two weeks in September (prior to Fall Quarter) | ||||
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Two meetings with RISE Intensive-Undergraduate Coordinator by each RISE Developmental participant; RISE Developmental participants select a FRM for their RISE Intensive-undergraduate independent research project Note: RISE Intensive-Graduate participants will have already selected their FRM (see Table 12D). |
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| Time | Mon. | Tues. | Weds. | Thurs. |
Variable (depending on participant’s schedule) |
Intensive-Undergraduate: 12 hours per week on independent research project (reduced due to heavy academic coursework) Intensive-Graduate: 16 hours per week on independent research project (additional hours due to moderate levels of academic coursework) Participants work in a research intensive laboratory under the supervision of the FRM with guidance from other student researchers and/or technicians in the laboratory to learn relevant techniques that they will use for their independent research project; read the literature relevant to their research topic; attend and participate in weekly research laboratory meetings |
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| Tuesday Evenings : 6:00-8:00pm, RISE Intensive Workshops (Bio 499)1 | ||||
Laboratory experiments for students to achieve a basic level of proficiency in performing and using basic biomedical research techniques, such as DNA, RNA and protein isolation and characterization, tissue culture procedures, transfection using various vectors, Western and Northern blotting, gradient separation techniques and animal handling. |
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Poster Presentation Workshops |
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Manuscript Writing Workshops |
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GRE Preparation Workshops |
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| Friday Afternoons: 4:00 – 6:00 pm, RISE Intensive Workshops (Bio 499) (Fall, Winter, Spring Quarters) |
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Journal Club Meetings |
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Minority Speaker Research Seminar |
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Grant-Writing Workshops |
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Note: 1Participants earn two units per quarter (BIO 499) for participation in both the Tuesday and Friday workshops
